Need a reason to get your friends together? We recommend a Wine Tasting Party. Download our free guide for tips on how to swirl sniff and sip like a pro.

1. • LA CREMA WINERY'S GUIDE TO •
WINE TASTING PARTIES
Combining great wines, great friends and great food? What better way to spend an evening.
guest list
Consider your space — how many people can fit comfortably around your dining room table
or living room? Typically 5 - 8 guests is easiest for conversations. Also consider the level of your
group’s wine knowledge. Whether connoisseurs or casual wine fans, you can provide some quick
tasting tips to help everyone come away with a better understanding of what's in their glass.
party style
Framing your tasting and choosing wine is part of the fun. Use location as your guide—Napa,
Sonoma and France, for example. Choose different varietals, or choose several examples of the
same varietal to taste differences in terroir and style.
As specialists in cool-climate varietals, we like to choose a Pinot Gris, two Chardonnays and three
Pinot Noirs.
how much wine to buy?
cup
For tasting:
Taste = 2 oz pour radius
1 - 750 ml bottle = 12 2 oz pours
For enjoying:
Standard glass of wine = 5 oz
1 - 750 ml bottle = 5 glasses
We recommend having two bottles of each wine you’d like stem
to sample, so you have enough to enjoy a full glass once the
hard work of ranking is finished!
base
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2. serving temperature
White Wine
Serve between 45 and 50°F
If white wine is served too cold, flavors and aromas will be masked. Too warm and they become
flat and flabby. Chill whites for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Red Wine
Serve between 55 and 65°F
Red wine will seem excessively tannic and acidic if served too cold. Too warm, they will become
overly alcoholic and lifeless. Chill room-temperature bottles for 10-15 minutes in the refrigerator.
glassware and supplies
If possible, have one glass for each wine for each guest. Don’t have a full rack of glasses?
No worries. Another great option is one white wine glass and one red wine glass for each person.
You can even just give everyone one glass — choose one with a wide bowl and narrow rim.
It’s also good to provide water glasses for clearing the palate, and a “dump bucket” in case a guest
prefers to empty their wineglass or spit instead of drinking each sample.
Grab a few corkscrews, too!
The day of your party, set out pens, wine score cards and a few of the Wine Words sheets
(pg. 5) to help get discussion flowing.
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3. nibbles
Offer a neutral cracker to cleanse palates between wines. After the formal tasting is done,
let everyone try their hand at wine-and-cheese pairings.
Choose a selection of cheeses with diversity in mind. Source selections from different animals
(cow, sheep, goat), different countries, and especially different flavor and textural profiles. A plate
of three soft cheeses isn’t nearly as exciting to your taste buds as a mixture of soft, semi-soft and
hard cheeses. For example, triple crème brie, smoked gouda, goat cheese and Reggiano Parmesan.
To pair, we enjoy:
•
Chardonnay with Triple Crème Brie
•
Pinot Noir with Fiscalini Cheddar
Rose with Goat Cheese
other ideas include:
• Honey or truffle-infused honey
• Marcona almonds
• Quince paste (membrillo in Spain)
• Dried figs or cherries
• Fresh grapes, figs, pears or apples
• Sliced fresh baguette, as well as something crunchy like crackers or crostini
• Hot Coppa
• Smoked Prosciutto
• Cold Smoked Salmon
• Gourmet Olives
• Peppadew peppers
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4. serving & tasting
Taste from lightest-bodied to fullest-bodied wine and use all your senses.
1. See: Notice color and clarity
2. Swirl: Swirl wine in the bowl of the glass to release aromas
3. Sniff: Take several short, deep sniffs. Get your nose right in there!
4. Sip: Roll the wine around your mouth. Slurp in a bit of air if you feel confident.
5. Savor: Swallow (or spit) and notice how the wine lingers in your mouth.
6. Share: Talk about it! Describe your experience and compare with your friends.
What celebrity would this wine be?
If this wine was a fashion accessory, what would it be?
What food would you pair with this wine?
What kind of book would pair with this wine?
Who is the best person to share this with?
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5. • wine words •
Thought starters to help you describe what's in your glass.
COLOR BAKING OTHER
Garnet Chocolate Ava Gardner in a Glass
Brick Cocoa Barnyard
Tawny Cola Brooding
Ruby Red Molasses Burt Rubber
Soft Red Caramel Burnt Toast
Red Brown Vanilla Forest Floor
Amber Butterscotch Dirty, Sexy Tennis Shoes
Gold Custard Fruit Bomb
Pale Gold Butter Petrol
Straw Cream Voluptuous
Hazelnut Tight
FRUIT
Almond Muscular
Pear
Toast Thin
Peach
Sexy
Grapefruit VEGETABLE
Alluring
Orange Mushroom
Sleek
Lemon Green Pepper
Syrupy
Tropical Olive
Sappy
Green Apple
SAVORY Sassy
Baked Apple
Bacon Playful
Melon
Smoke Bombshell
Strawberry
Tabaco Masculine
Raspberry
Leather Rugged
Blackberry
Espresso Delicate
Blueberry
Ocean Powerful
Cranberry
Chalk Balanced
Plum
Hay Vivid
Bing Cherry
Straw Muted
Jam
Stone
Raisin
Forest Floor
Prune
Dirt
FLORAL Mineral
Rose
TEXTURE
Violet
Lush
SPICE Velvet
Herbal Crisp
Anise Clean
Licorice Chemical
Sage Full
Cinnamon Light
Clove
Pepper
Mint
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6. • wine scorecard •
Evaluate & Note Your Favorites
wine #1:
Your Description:
not my favorite madly in love
wine #2:
Your Description:
not my favorite madly in love
wine #3:
Your Description:
not my favorite madly in love
wine #4:
Your Description:
not my favorite madly in love
wine #5:
Your Description:
not my favorite madly in love
wine #6:
Your Description:
not my favorite madly in love
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7. • wine tasting mat •
Winery
Wine
Vintage
Varietal
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